Lawsuit seeks to end solitary confinement in Florida prisons

John Kennedy GateHouse Capital Bureau @JKennedyReport

Wednesday

May 8, 2019 at 5:02 PMMay 8, 2019 at 8:25 PM

TALLAHASSEE – A half-dozen inmates who in some cases have endured years in solitary confinement filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday demanding the practice stop in Florida prisons, claiming it violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

The lawsuit seeks to be declared a class-action claim on behalf of about 10,000 Florida prisoners held in isolation – about one in 10 state inmates. Florida’s percentage of prisoners in solitary confinement is double the national average, said attorneys for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is representing the six named plaintiffs.

“Solitary confinement is increasingly recognized in the United States and around the world as torture,” said Shalini Goel Agarwal, one of the attorneys who filed the suit in Tallahassee’s federal court. “It can have devastating psychological effects.”

Ruthy Mitchell of Jacksonville, whose daughter Angel Meddler, 21, has been held in isolation at Lowell Correctional Institution Annex for most of the past three-and-a-half years, said it has worsened her daughter’s mental and physical state.

She was placed in solitary three days after arriving behind bars for attempted murder when she refused a correctional officer’s order to do pushups. Meddler continued to be kept in solitary after drawing more disciplinary charges in isolation and since has been put on suicide watch at least a dozen times, the lawsuit maintains.

“It’s hard for her, and it’s hard for me,” Mitchell said, adding, “she’s not a bad person. She’s made mistakes.”

Another former inmate, Laurette Philipsen, 63, of Pasco County, served eight-and-a-half years for grand theft at Lowell, including 28 days in solitary before her release in March 2018. She said the time spent in isolation was her worst experience.

“You have no human contact with anybody,” she said. “You cannot talk to your family. It’s very difficult. And your mind starts playing games after about three days. And then, you don’t know what time of day it is…nighttime, or daytime. You have nothing to do but be in your cell.”

“After about two weeks, you start considering how to end your life,” she said.

With about 96,000 inmates behind bars, the Florida prison system is the nation’s third largest. It has struggled with a host of problems, including gang-related violence, a spike in inmate deaths, skyrocketing health costs and difficulty in hiring and retaining correctional officers, leaving some facilities dangerously short-staffed, according to analysts.

A Florida Department of Corrections spokesman responded to Wednesday’s lawsuit with a statement about how solitary confinement is used at state lock-ups.

“An inmate is placed in close management when the inmate through his or her behavior, has demonstrated an inability to live in the general population without abusing the rights and privileges of others,” said Rob Klepper of Florida DOC.

He added, “There are processes in place to evaluate these inmates and transition them back into general population. Close management is only utilized when absolutely necessary to ensure the safe and secure operation of our institutions.”

Among the inmates named in the lawsuit is a transgender woman in isolation at Florida State Prison, a men’s institution, who has been held in solitary for almost 10 years. Another is a 17-year-old at Suwannee Correctional Institution held in isolation for most of the past three years he has spent behind bars.

Two middle-aged inmates named in the lawsuit also are suffering from severe physical problems along with mental health disorders.

“The Florida Department of Corrections has long known about the harms of solitary confinement, but hasn’t done enough to limit how many people are in isolation or how bad the conditions are there,” said Agarwal.

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